Social Integration of Immigrants within the Linguistically Diverse Workplace: A Systematic Review

Vibha Kaushik (), Christine A. Walsh and Diana Haefele
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Vibha Kaushik: Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, Canada
Christine A. Walsh: Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, Canada
Diana Haefele: Faculty of Information and Media Studies, Western University, Canada

Review of Social Sciences, 2016, vol. 1, issue 1, 15-25

Abstract: Due to international migration, a large number of workplaces are becoming linguistically diverse. This creates challenges for the workplace integration of immigrants and increases the risk of their social exclusion. A systematic review was conducted to determine the effects of linguistic diversity on social integration of immigrants within the workplace. Articles were identified by reviewing abstracts in electronic databases using keywords related to linguistic diversity, social integration, immigrants and workplace. The search yielded ten peer reviewed articles, published in English, between 2000 and 2014. Information was extracted and synthesized from both quantitative and qualitative studies. The studies were found to be concerned on: (1) social integration or social inclusion/exclusion, (2) social interaction and inter-group perception, and (3) accent discrimination. Smooth social and professional assimilation and the equality of opportunities for the immigrants were considered as the determining factors of their complete social integration in the workplace. Most studies in this review established a connection between social integration and local language skills; some indicated that racial discrimination and ethnicity based stereotyping contributes to social exclusion of immigrants, particularly when the studies involved visible minorities. The review enhances our understanding of challenges of complete social integration faced by immigrants and reinforces the need to invest in policies and program aimed at preventing marginalization of immigrants. Due to limited number of studies identified by this review and the variation in findings, further research is necessary to investigate the role of linguistic diversity in the workplace integration of immigrants in immigrant receiving countries.

Keywords: Immigrants; Language; Linguistic diversity; Social integration; Workplace. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J15 J70 M14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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